I bought the F14, now what?

[Gunfreak]

Haven't had the time to jump in,

I've watched a few tutorials. 

But for those that have learned the F14, what are your tips to go about learning it?

I'm half decent at the F16 systems.

Edited August 28, 2021 by Gunfreak

[unlikely_spider]

There are three main resources for learning a complex aircraft like the Tomcat: read the manual, watch videos, and complete the training missions that come with it. Chuck's guides are very good, and Heatblur has a website for this plane that details all the systems.

[WarbossPetross]

For me the biggest hurdle was the radar with all the manual controls. In order to get good results in the rear seat (or to get Jester to do what you need) it would do well to learn some radar theory, so that you know what each mode does and what that gives you. The in-game tutorial missions failed to explain that to me, but luckily some kind souls on r/hoggit mentioned US Navy training manuals in some topic. I investigated and found them on their own official website: https://www.cnatra.navy.mil/pubs-pat-pubs.asp The one you need is P-820: https://www.cnatra.navy.mil/local/docs/pat-pubs/P-820.pdf It is for the T-45 two-seat trainer (available as a community mod), but the radar basics are pretty much universal.

[Biggus]

Just to add to the comments so far, there are two things you should know that aren't often explicitly stated in tutorials:

 

1.  Pay attention to the buffeting and creaking of the airframe and be gentle.  Everyone rips the wings off at least once through overly violent maneuvers at high G.  Learn the limits.

2.  When you encounter radar issues, the problem is not Jester.  It's your lack of understanding about what the AWG-9 can and can't do in nearly every instance.

 

IMO the Tomcat and the Viper are a great pair.  I find it easier to switch between them than I do switching between the either of them and the Hornet.

[Nexus-6]

First of all, well done.  The F-14 is one of the finest modules available in DCS.  I've had it since release day, and I'm still having a blast with it.  To answer your question, these are the things I did in the beginning to help me learn the ins and outs.  Your mileage may vary, but it worked well for me.

 

- Learn the Tomcat's behavior under all kinds of control inputs.  I deliberately departed it several times to try and gauge how it responds when it's not happy and to find out how far I could push it.

 

- Start simple.  Set up 1v1 fights with inferior opponents (MiG-21, F-5 etc.) and work upward from there.

 

- Learn the fundamentals of how the AWG-9 works.  Even if you never spend a single moment in the rear seat.  Knowing it's strengths and weaknesses will help your decision making exponentially.

 

- The buffeting is normal.

 

Good luck!

[Gunfreak]

Thanks guys, I'm gonn give it a go in a couple of hours, just need breakfast and to finish up some chassuers a cheval. 

[QuiGon]

17 hours ago, Gunfreak said:

what are your tips to go about learning it?

 

Read the manual thoroughly: https://www.heatblur.se/F-14Manual/

It gives you the best understanding of the aircraft!

Edited August 29, 2021 by QuiGon

[captain_dalan]

On 8/28/2021 at 8:33 PM, Gunfreak said:

Haven't had the time to jump in,

I've watched a few tutorials. 

But for those that have learned the F14, what are your tips to go about learning it?

I'm half decent at the F16 systems.

 

First and foremost, as you are new in it, avoid negative learning habits. My first tip to enforce positive learning would be:
1. NO CURVES on your stick. Especially not in the pitch. Depending on individual preferences, this might slow you learning curve a bit at first, especially for fine precision, but trust me, it's worth it in the end.
2. Explore and fully develop your muscle memory for the core of the envelope. Try to master basic aerobatics before going into tactical scenarios. Once you can confidently fly the plane up to 20 units of alpha, start learning the weapons and sensor systems. No need to venture to the extremes yet. Your primary goal should be turn coordination, angle of attack management, rolling under g's and rolling under high alpha and if you chose to go for the F-14A, engine, or better said, throttle management. I would say trim as well, but you seam to have that covered already (from that other post).  

 

[Spurts]

I can't emphasize the importance of #2 above enough.

[Gunfreak]

6 hours ago, captain_dalan said:

First and foremost, as you are new in it, avoid negative learning habits. My first tip to enforce positive learning would be:
1. NO CURVES on your stick. Especially not in the pitch. Depending on individual preferences, this might slow you learning curve a bit at first, especially for fine precision, but trust me, it's worth it in the end.
2. Explore and fully develop your muscle memory for the core of the envelope. Try to master basic aerobatics before going into tactical scenarios. Once you can confidently fly the plane up to 20 units of alpha, start learning the weapons and sensor systems. No need to venture to the extremes yet. Your primary goal should be turn coordination, angle of attack management, rolling under g's and rolling under high alpha and if you chose to go for the F-14A, engine, or better said, throttle management. I would say trim as well, but you seam to have that covered already (from that other post).  

 

I use the winwing F18 stick with extender, so I don't use curves on any planes.

[captain_dalan]

7 hours ago, Gunfreak said:

I use the winwing F18 stick with extender, so I don't use curves on any planes.

Awesome! You are already one huge step ahead of many people out there! 

[FeistyLemur]

On 8/29/2021 at 6:00 PM, captain_dalan said:

First and foremost, as you are new in it, avoid negative learning habits. My first tip to enforce positive learning would be:
1. NO CURVES on your stick. Especially not in the pitch. Depending on individual preferences, this might slow you learning curve a bit at first, especially for fine precision, but trust me, it's worth it in the end.
2. Explore and fully develop your muscle memory for the core of the envelope. Try to master basic aerobatics before going into tactical scenarios. Once you can confidently fly the plane up to 20 units of alpha, start learning the weapons and sensor systems. No need to venture to the extremes yet. Your primary goal should be turn coordination, angle of attack management, rolling under g's and rolling under high alpha and if you chose to go for the F-14A, engine, or better said, throttle management. I would say trim as well, but you seam to have that covered already (from that other post).  
 

 

Are you saying you should learn to fly the F-14 right to the edge of the envelope faster than you've ever flown before?

Edited August 31, 2021 by FeistyLemur

[captain_dalan]

13 hours ago, FeistyLemur said:

 

Are you saying you should learn to fly the F-14 right to the edge of the envelope faster than you've ever flown before?

 

ROFL! 
Good reference! But no, only  2/3rds there

[Sideburns]

F14 is a great module, full of stuff to learn. I'd suggest learning to fly it first, then A2A and then A2G stuff.

 

1) As hinted before, airframe is unforgiving and will kill you if you handle it roughly. But flown well (smoothly) it is a difficult airframe to beat in BVR or BFM. Also has incredible endurance (~240 knots for endurance, ~330 knots sustained corner speed) and speed.

2) The AIM54 is incredible, the AWG9 can also be great but has its limitation for low closure targets particularly over land.

3) Human RIO is better than Jester, the F14 is a lot more enjoyable if you pair up with someone. Alternatively why not try being a RIO yourself, you can load up a single player mission and switch seats to have a quick go.

4) Don't forget it can also do air to ground precision strike, and the adm141 drones can be fun to assist with SEAD/DEAD situations. The LANTIRN functionality really requires another joystick, you can map a modifier switch in DCS to switch between A2A and A2G button asignments and use a single joystick for both.

Edited September 1, 2021 by Sideburns

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

Personally, I prefer to start with the basics: 

1. Learn the proper start-up procedure (or an abbreviated one since that's enough for DCS in practice);

2. Take off and fly around, getting a feel of the jet and how it behaves. Pay attention to pitch changes on various wing sweep angles;
3. Practice touch-and-go's on a runway, and full-stop landings;

4. Practice in-flight refuelling.

5. Learn navigation (having Jester set up waypoints from F10 etc)

6. Only then slowly start getting into combat: the Caucasus dogfight Instant Action mission is good for that since the Su-27 is pretty easy.

 

I use the NTTR map for initial training with a new airframe. I also like doing canyon runs, and the NTTR map is pretty good for that: I take off from Nellis, fly south to Lake Mead, dive under the Hoover Dam bridge and follow the Colorado river as low as possible (200ft or lower). Once far enough south, I do a half Cuban Eight and repeat the same trajectory but in the opposite direction. This will get you used to how the F-14 handles, and will give you good practice with using the rudder.

Once you're comfortable with that trajectory, follow Lake Mead due East, also along the Colorado but towards the Hualapai Indian Reservation this time (also as low as possible): that particular trajectory is quite a bit more challenging.

Edited September 1, 2021 by Raven (Elysian Angel)

[Jayhawk1971]

While some might enjoy the methodical approach, others may find that a bit tedious. Especially since there are no real entertaining entry-level training missions outside of the tutorials. If you belong in that category, I suggest you do the training missions and then try some of the instant action or single missions.

As soon as you feel halfway at home in the module, try out some of the default campaigns (Kaba's and/ or Heatblur's): both have a flat learning curve and ease you in quite nicely.

 

Personally, I find it to be more fun and entertaining to "learn on the job" rather than muck about in sterile free flight setups. Especially AAR: to keep frustration levels to a minimum, try to refuel within the context of a mission/ campaign: try for a limited amount of time, but then go and blow something up (regardless of your success or failure hooking up to the tanker) to reward your effort and not get hung up on AAR. Most missions I've come across give you enough fuel to make AAR optional (or give you the option to respawn with full tanks).

 

I highly recommend you buy the "Zone 5" campaign by Reflected at some point. It's the best training campaign in DCS, and one of the best campaigns overall. It has a moderately steep learning curve, but it will definitely make you a much better virtual Tomcat pilot. You'll do a lot of formation flying in that campaign, which helps immensely with AAR.

Edited September 1, 2021 by Jayhawk1971

[VR Flight Guy in PJ Pants]

I am a newbie and I find both MiG21 Bis and F-5E are terribly tough target to practise with. I would recommend the MiG23 instead.

 

I would say:

1. Read the manual, read Chuck's Guide, read the section you would like to learn, one part at a time.
2. Get hands on what you have read, getting into 1v1 helps to push yourself and is more fun/exciting. 
3. Rehash where necessary.
4. Move on to the next topic/system.

Cold start from the pilot side is surprisingly simple, when compared to the Hornet, it is more or less like cold-starting the Viggen. I concur that playing RIO yourself is also very good, and it is not boring, since I have no one else to pair up with.

 

Please note that the Zone 5 campaign, which is in my cross hair, requires the NTTR map which I do not own neither.

Edited September 4, 2021 by VFGiPJP

[Mr_sukebe]

Similar to some of the above, my preference on any new airframe is to learn in roughly the same order as a real pilot, i.e. do the following one at a time until you've got them to a reasonable level of proficiency and then start on the next

 - How to cold start

 - Radios

 - How to take off

 - How to land

 - How to carrier land

 - Navigation

 - How to deal with bad weather

 - Night operations

 - How to avoid missiles fired at you

 - Ground pounding

 - Using the radar

 - BVR fighting

 - Dog fighting

 

As you can see, it's a pretty big list, but it's a logical order and you're basically building on each of the previous elements.  More to the point, you're biting off small chunks at a time, as against getting overwhelmed.